Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my privilege to have you
here with us today. We are especially grateful for those of you who have
been sharing the ministry website with all of your family and friends.
Your faithfulness and commitment to share God's Word with others
continues to bring about tremendous results. People are responding to
God's Word! This is all so amazing. We ask you to pray that God will
continue to give us boldness to speak the truth in ministry in the face
of adversity in the coming days! As you may have noticed, it's becoming
more and more challenging in the day in which we live.
I
want to let all of you know how grateful I am for all of you. We are so
thankful your prayers and continue to pray for all of you. Prayer is
such a powerful tool, and a mighty weapon against the adversary. And
through your sharing, God continues to bring a number of people to faith
in Jesus Christ. Praise God! May He continue to use you and this
ministry mightily to effect change in even more lives. Let's give God some praise for all He has done and continues to do in the lives of His people.
Much of today's youth, seem to be lost in their own world, their earbuds blocking all sound but the sound of their music, convinced that people of age know nothing. Thinking they have invented a new, more effective concept of living life. Our young people need to learn there is nothing new under the sun. They fail to realize that your associations are either making you stronger or they are tearing you down. Those with whom you engage will influence you either for good or for evil. There is enough temptation from this dying world, without falling prey to those who seek to create confusion in their lives. There are plenty of people trying to take advantage of you, smiling to your face and seeking to find a way to stab you in the back. Welcome to the jungle.
Many people today think the Christian life is to never have a problem, to never face a trial, and never hurt. Just when your life is under control and your child breaks your heart by sinning against God. If people only knew the struggles. Every follower of Christ who shares in worship today is engaged in some sort of spiritual battle, in fact, sometimes it seems like you just can’t get a break from the battle. Satan is blinding the eyes of many who profess the Name of Christ. They are deprived through negligence and deceived, having an exaggerated opinion of their own righteousness and strength.
Allow me to remind you, despite all you’ve faced, you’re standing. Not until Jesus Christ returns and the devil is defeated once and for all will the faithful be excused from this battle. We must therefore, be determined that he won’t have your child or your hope. Let us hold fast our confession of faith in Christ.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
In our last message, we learned that Satan concludes 40 days of temptation with his three final efforts at least for the time being, until he's cast into the lake of fire, he never gives up. By Jesus' victory over these temptations, He proved that He and He alone was qualified as Messiah to fulfill the work the Father had given Him to do, the work of providing salvation for guilty sinners, by grace through faith.
In our text, we see the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Up to this point in Matthew, Jesus has not yet preached nor has He performed any miracle. A casual reading of our passage, would hardly reveal that nearly a year has passed between Matthew 4:11 and verse 12. Matthew appears to pass over many things from Jesus' earlier work in Judea and Galilee that could have been included. Fortunately, we are told about some of these things in John's gospel.
John records in chapter 4, that Jesus called His first disciples, at a wedding, He turned the water to wine at Cana, He resided for a short while in Capernaum, then returned to Jerusalem for an early Passover, He drove the money changers from the temple, He spoke to Nicodemus, the highly respected teacher of the Old Testament Scriptures. He conducted an early teaching ministry in the Judean countryside, and had an encounter with the woman at the well in Samaria on His way back north.
Matthew records in verse 11, that Jesus was in the desert near the Jordan. Now Matthew says in verse 12, that "when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee." That's where His ministry officially begins. Both Matthew and Mark specifically indicate that Jesus left Judea and went to Galilee after the arrest of John the Baptist. The arrest of John was therefore a kind of turning point in our Lord’s ministry. By withdrawing to Galilee, Jesus was not trying hide, as some have suggested, because He ministered publicly, and attracted a very large following.
From the time of the temptation until the beginning of His Galilean ministry, John chapter 1:19 through chapter 4:42, we're given a full record of what happened. Following His victory over Satan in the wilderness, Jesus comes back to where John the Baptist is preaching and baptizing. Having been tested, proven, He's ready to begin His ministry. But first, He has a purpose. It was important that John point specifically to Jesus, and say "This is the One I've been preaching about. This is the Messiah." Jesus was making the transition from John the Baptist to Himself. John said Behold Him," John said to his own disciples follow Him. The announcement was clear. Jesus walked away and they followed Him, He called them to be His disciples.
John heralded the King, he pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, and he told people to follow Him. John completed his task. Jesus had come to Jerusalem, He proclaimed Himself, He cleansed the temple. He performed a miracle in Cana to establish who He was. It's time to phase John out and to Jesus phase in. Jesus knew He had to go to Galilee to start His ministry.
In verse 13, Matthew writes "and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali." Capernaum was hardly the kind of town one would expect the Messiah to make His headquarters. By the way, the name Capernaum means "Nahum’s village." However, it is not known who the Nahum in question was. Matthew makes a point to alert his readers Jesus’ withdrawal to Galilee was no mistake, in fact, it was the fulfillment of prophecy, proof that Jesus is the promised Messiah. John records He went through Samaria, where He met the Samaritan woman. And He healed the nobleman's son on His way into Galilee. It was a wonderful occasion win people to Christ, those who were the most despised people of all. The first message of His messiahship was not even to the Jews. Which was always the plan in the Old Testament.
Verses 14-15 tells us "This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles."
Matthew wants to focus on the King starting His official ministry, so he leaves the other facts out. Jesus was always on a divine timetable, He began His ministry at the right time, the right place, with unfailing accuracy. It was time to start. Luke tells us Herod shut up John in prison, for reprimanding him for Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. Herod the Great had a collection of wives, his children all had different mothers and they all intermarried with each other. And, they kept intermarrying until it was a complete debacle.
Any seminary student knows the frustration of trying to unscramble the Herodian egg. The ruler of the Galilee, was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great by a woman named Malthace, the sixth wife of Herod. Herod had a half-brother named Philip. Philip was such a horrible kid that he was rejected by his father. He was extremely wealthy, but had no claim to royalty. He lived as a private citizen in Rome. His wife was an awful woman named Herodias. She eventually gets her daughter Salome to dance to get John the Baptist's head on a plate. Herodias, was a vile woman, she literally destroyed everything she touched.
By the way, Herodias was the granddaughter of Herod the Great by another mother. In other words, Philip married his niece. It was vulgar what was going on in that family. When Herod Antipas visited Rome to see his half-brother, who was married to his father's son's daughter, Herodias. To make matters worse, he seduced his half-brother's niece. Needless to say, John the Baptist didn't think that was right, being a bold, blunt godly man, he said what needed to be said. So, Herod Antipas threw him in prison. God knows we need more people like that to face society, and stand up for what's right. John was imprisoned in the dungeon of Machaerus, which was located on the shore of the Dead Sea. It's always a dangerous thing to confront corruption with the truth. It was all part of God's perfect timing, Jesus' ministry was triggered by the imprisonment of John the Baptist. The Jewish leaders were thrilled that John the Baptist got thrown into prison. They hated John. Jesus would face those same religious leaders head on. The same thing happened, when they tried to kill Him. In John 10, Jesus even told them, "You don't take My life from Me. I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it up."
Notice verse 16, "The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned." The concept of light was a favorite picture of Jesus Christ. In John 3, "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil." And, in John 9, Jesus said "For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light." This is a tremendous statement. The darkness is the power of Satan himself.
That brings us to verse 17, "From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." There was never a question as to what Jesus' message was. There never was any question about that. Then, as now, we know where He stands. He first thing He says, is that we must repent. The second thing He says is the reason why we must repent. Jesus is saying, if you're a sinner and turn from it and become a part of the Kingdom of God. He is calling for an inner change of the heart, leading to an outer change of life. The word repent is the word "metanoeo," it means a complete change. The message of repentance, then, signals a spiritual crisis. You're going the wrong direction, you're headed down the wrong path, turn around. This is the message that Jesus preached, and He preached it with authority. Because I believe, this is also the message I am called to proclaim.
I believe a preacher is called to proclaim the Word of God, not his own opinion, not some modern philosophy, but God's Word. What a great honor, what a tremendous joy it is to be able to stand in the tradition of Jesus Christ! And, preach the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ I shall do.
May it be so..
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen